


Chains

by wolfy_writing



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-04-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 02:15:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfy_writing/pseuds/wolfy_writing





	Chains

It was the same nightmare he'd been having ever since the pollen incident. The one that led to him only sleeping in dark, distant room of the TARDIS, so that Amy and Rory couldn't hear if he cried out in the night.

The Dream Lord had him in the pit, chained to the rack and spoke with slow, careful words. Careful as the cuts made by the blade in his hands.

"You know why you want this?" The Dream Lord drew the knife carefully across the Doctor's chest, drawing a thin, red trail. "Because it's a cheat. It lets you play at being a helpless victim, pinning all of that pain on someone outside of you, while you sit there and imagine you're painless." He made a light, quick cut that drew a hiss from the Doctor's lips.

The Doctor didn't scream. He knew he didn't have the right.

The Dream Lord pulled back the blade for another cut, then stopped.

A knife was at his throat.

The Doctor found himself staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes.

She had never been part of the dream.

"You will not hurt him any more," said Leela. "If you try, I will kill you."

The Dream Lord laughed. "You can't kill me. He wants me to do this, you stupid savage! There's no defense against that!"

Leela drew her knife across the Dream Lord's throat.

He vanished.

Leela walked forward with a long, slow stare. "Doctor? You wear a different face."

"It's been a long time," he croaked.

Leela looked up at something slightly above the Doctor's head. "There is a thing like a leech on your head. I will kill it for you."

The Doctor felt a pang of dread. "No, Leela! It's my guilt! I need it! If I lose it, I have no idea what might happen! Something needs to keep me in control! Something needs to stop me!"

Leela readied her knife. "If need be, Doctor, I will stop you."

She threw the knife.

The Doctor braced himself for a rush of madness.

Instead, he felt...relief. Not the wild high of the Time Lord Victorious, or the cool hubristic grandeur he'd felt when plotting to destroy planets, but plain and simple relief.

Leela stepped forward. "I do not know how to undo the chains."

"One step at a time." The Doctor smiled. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

She looked him over carefully, lightly touching the injuries. "You will heal in time."

"Time has always been my weakness." He blinked. "You're fading."

"So are you." She stepped closer and put her hand on the chains.

"Leela? Don't let me get away with too much."

"I will protect you, Doctor."

\---

Leela awoke, knife in hand. "Doctor?"

She got up and walked to the console room. "Doctor, are we free from the trap?"

"It's not a trap." The Doctor pulled his head out from the open panel in the console. "It's a complicated spacio-temporal phenomenon, which results in...no, we're not free yet. But we're through the worst, and we should be out in a few hours."

"I had a dream." Leela put her knife away. "My people say that dreams can foretell what is to come. Is that true?"

"Generally not. But we're in a bit of an odd spot in time and space, so...what exactly did you dream?"

"You had a different face. Younger, and at the same time older."

"Oh?" The Doctor's head emerged from the console. "Was it a handsome face? I hope it had a respectable nose. I can't stand having a forgettable nose."

Leela ignored the question. "A man had you in chains. He was hurting you, and you were letting him."

The Doctor gave her an surprised look. "Did he have a black beard? Or a face that looked like it had been burned off?"

Leela shook her head. "He was a small man with no beard. He looked weak. But there was a leech on your head. It poisoned you so you would let him hurt you. You were afraid of what you might become."

"I see." The Doctor stared at her for a long moment. "I doubt that means anything but it's good to know." He ducked his head back in the open panel.

Leela paced the console room. Telling her dream had brought little relief. "Doctor?"

"What?"

"Take care of yourself. Do not let them hurt you."

\---

The Doctor jerked awake, knocking his head on the edge of the panel. "Ow!"

Amy laughed. "I knew it! You fell asleep in there! What happened to trying to extract us from the space-time...whirlpool-thingy."

"It's not a whirlpool-thingy, it's a complicated spacio-temporal phenomenon, which...oh, never mind. We're nearly out, actually. I just have a few more minor adjustments to make." He slid out from under the panel and rubbed his head. "I must have been more tired than I thought. I haven't fallen asleep like that in ages." Not anywhere he might be found, at least.

Amy gave him an odd look. "Were you...crying?'

"Don't be ridiculous." The Doctor wiped his eyes. His fingers came away damp. "Well...a bit?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm just a bit tired with trying to keep us from ending up spending eternity as a small dot."

"Did you have a bad dream or something?" Amy looked at him carefully.

"'More sad, really." The Doctor shook his head. "It was about an old friend."

Amy squatted down on the floor. "A good friend?"

"Better than she knew."


End file.
